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first PILLCAM test... very nervous... any advice

TaraZ

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TaraZ Newbie
TaraZ
Posted

Scheduled to have the pillcam on Wednesday and I'm thinking of cancelling and rescheduling until after Christmas. I'm very nervous that this thing is going to get stuck and I'll end up having surgery ...

Right now I am scheduled to work a lot during the next 3 weeks because so many people are on vacation. I have been asking for more hours at work cause I need the money and they gave them to me. But I have a history of calling in sick and they don't trust me ... work is complicated but I wanted to prove I'm dependable so was planning on doing a banner job. Then I scheduled this for my day off not thinking much about it, just wanted to get it done. Now I'm sitting here reading all the horror stories of patients that had an obstruction and then emergency surgery so of course I'm now completely terrified to do this.  Even minor complications would not be good if they keep me from being able to work. Uggggg. I hate this. Also reading how the pillcam doesn't even work sometimes and might not be worth doing?

I am probably over thinking this and should just do it. My symptoms are chronic but fairly mild I think?  Symptoms include...

-loose stools (not diarrhea, just very loose) that are light brown in color and I've had this consistently (2-4 times a day) for about 1 whole year now. Have not had a regular hard stool BM in about 1 year.

-Tired!!! I am young(well 43) and fit and surf and windsurf and I even used to be a professional snowboarder. I am in very good shape but over the past 3 years I have become more and more tired. I have problems sleeping so at first I just ignored being tired. But it's gotten worse. On bad days I can do a little activity (30 minutes to an hour) of exercise and then I'm beat. That's extremely unusual for me but is happening more often.

-over the last year have experienced mild nausea after taking vitamins

-6 months of very possible DH! Started in Aug after eating gluten.

That's about it for symptoms. But hears the kicker... I have been gluten free (by choice, I know I'm crazy) for about 10 years now. So all my tests for celiac disease are coming back negative. The DH I mentioned is what started me down the road looking for a celiac diagnosis. Sorry this is such a long story. Again right now I'm just stressed about the pill cam. I'm reading about it and it's scary. I had a clean colonoscopy and then my endoscopy showed a small ulcer in my duodenum, neg biopsy of course. so next is the pillcam.  Thanks for taking the time to read this. Kinda feeling alone with all this.  

 

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

I have heard from people on here that they worked well.  Never heard of any getting stuck

i don't know what your insurance situation is, but if you have met your deductible or still have " money" left to spend, it might be financially wise to get it done this year.

if you have been gluten-free for 10 years, these problems probably aren't due to Celiac disease.  It is a  good idea to find out what is wrong.

pikakegirl Enthusiast
pikakegirl
Posted

Understand, diagnosed 2007 and was too afraid to do cam but had endoscope which showed only 2feet undamaged small bowel. Just had pill cam done. I am so relieved because I am fully healed stomach and small bowel. Also had colonoscopy which was perfect. Relieved and surprised due to hard times last ten years. Tips, clean yourself ou as directed. I have a very slow system an after cleanse it take 5 days for me to have bowel movement so I too was afraid it would get stuck but it came out exactly 12 hours later. I used a large stainless stele bowel to catch my bm I was determined to make sure it come through. Be sure to wear cotton top with elastic pants because they put this corset like thing on you that you can not take off. Bending over is hard and chore nearly impossible because the wire and box on the side can swing and knock into things. Don't want to break them. It is easy to swallow with water, I was surprised. or me knowing and seeing the pictures helped me relax and feel confident in my choices over the years of healing and facing the test was worth it but trust your feelings, you are your best advocate.

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

The risk for the pill camera getting stuck is extremely small.  That said, my niece was in the same position as you.  She was three days from getting on a plane to Europe with her family (including me).  I went with her on her visit.  I thought I would meet her GI.  Instead, it was for the pill camera prep.  My niece wisely chose to postpone the camera just before her huge trip.  This was a good decision because had there been any issues, her parents would have stayed home and it would have ruined (you know what I mean) the trip for the rest of us.  

She took the test the week she returned home.  The test went well, but it found that she had Crohn's Disease which was well out of reach for scopes.  She also did not have typical symptoms either.  She's glad she knows where she stands now.  

With your schedule, stress, etc., it might be wise just to postpone it.  But only you can decide as only you know your current health issues.  We knew that my niece wasn't super sick.  She might have an attack (she did on our last trip), but it was manageable.  

Even though you have been gluten free and had the other scopes, did they give you a complete celiac blood panel?  You might have thought you were gluten free, but not really.....it happens a lot!  

 

TaraZ Newbie
TaraZ
Posted
  • Author

Thanks Everyone! I'm doing the pillcam. I think I was just stressing out reading all the bad stuff online. I decided to talk to my boss and explain my situation. It was funny... he got so uncomfortable about talking about it he just let me have an extra day off and said if I don't feel good on Friday then just let him know...

I'm still a little nervous about the pillcam getting stuck and leading to problems but I'll try to not think about that. So today is my prep day, had a light breakfast and then just clear fluids from now on until 10pm. Tomorrow I take the pill. And then I have the next day off of work which is nice so I can make sure this thing passes. Thanks again for the replys. I was going to put it off but my insurance has a big deductible and also it would be good to get this done and over with. Somethings going on with me... I'm currently losing weight for no reason and I have been eating a lot. I usually gain weight when I eat like that. This happened about 2 years ago... I got really skinny and was tired all the time, not like me at all. Never figured out why. Went to the Dr and metabolic panal was always normal, thyroid normal, Normal B vitamins. I was under a lot of stress at the time so I eventually figured that was the reason. Now I'm getting skinny again. It's just like before. Anyway thanks for reading.

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      Welcome, @catnapt! The most recent guidelines are the daily consumption of a minimum of 10g of gluten (about the amount found in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of two weeks. But if possible stretching that out even more would enhance the chances of getting valid test results. These guidelines are for those who have been eating gluten free for a significant amount of time. It's called the "gluten challenge".  Yes, you can develop celiac disease at any stage of life. There is a genetic component but also a stress trigger that is needed to activate the celiac genes. About 30-40% of the general population possesses the genetic potential to develop celiac disease but only about 1% of the general population actually develop celiac disease. For most with the potential, the triggering stress event doesn't happen. It can be many things but often it is a viral infection. Having said that, it is also the case that many, many people who eventually are diagnosed with celiac disease probably experienced the actual onset years before. Many celiacs are of the "silent" type, meaning that symptoms are largely missing or very minor and get overlooked until damage to the small bowel lining becomes advanced or they develop iron deficiency anemia or some other medical problem associated with celiac disease. Many, many are never diagnosed or are diagnosed later in life because they did not experience classic symptoms. And many physicians are only looking for classic symptoms. We now know that there are over 200 symptoms/medical problems associated with celiac disease but many docs are only looking for things like boating, gas, diarrhea. I certainly understand your concerns about not wanting to damage your body by taking on a gluten challenge. Your other option is to totally commit to gluten free eating and see if your symptoms improve. It can take two years or more for complete healing of the small bowel lining once going gluten free but usually people experience significant improvement well before then. If their is significant improvement in your symptoms when going seriously gluten free, then you likely have your answer. You would either have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity).
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